When I last wrote about the Sonos Arc bar in 2020, I opened with the fact that Sonos practically blew up the AV world by sending out an email announcing there would be an upcoming version of its app that would no longer work with legacy products. Fast forward four years, and we’re talking about a new Arc soundbar, the Ultra, and the Sonos app is still in the news for not-good reasons.
I’m not going to beat up on the app here; Sonos has promised to continue to work on and improve it and ultimately restore its full functionality, and they’ve been true to their word so far. In fact, they’ve done this to the detriment of delaying the launch of two new products, the Sonos Arc Ultra and Sub 4. Both products were supposed to be released shortly after the new Sonos Ace headphones (review available online), which were (apparently) a big part of why the new app was needed. But after the initial brouhaha over the app debacle — and subsequent stock market crucifixion where the company’s value plunged from a 52-week high of $19.76 to $10.23/share — the new products are here. And, damn, they were worth the wait!
The Arc Ultra and Sub 4 also reflect an expedited release cycle in Sonos’ product launches. The original Playbar, released more than a decade ago back in 2013, was in the lineup for seven years, while the Arc had just a four-year run. And short of just throwing a “2” on the name the way Sonos likes to do, the Ultra moniker indicates this is a new beast rather than just a follow-on. And, by God, it is.
First Impressions
Out of the box, the Arc Ultra retains virtually all of the Arc’s industrial design, even keeping the same discreet tone-on-tone logo in front, though the dimensions have been nipped and tucked a bit. The Ultra is almost a half-inch shorter (2.95 inches vs. 3.4) and slightly shallower (4.35 inches vs. 4.5) than the Arc, and a bit wider (46.38 inches vs. 45). But unless you pull a tape, they basically look the same. Whether you loved or hated the way the original Arc looked, the Ultra is unlikely to sway you one way or the other. For the record, I think the smooth, rounded edges help to soften its look, and the matte finishes are less prone to light reflection than glossy ones.
Visually, the biggest difference is the flattened “shelf” on the top and back of the Ultra. The top now houses the same capacitive touch slider volume control as found on the Era and Move 2 speakers, along with basic transport (Play/Pause, Skip +/-) controls and a microphone On/Off button with accompanying tiny, white LED indicator.
Where the original Arc was essentially elliptical all the way around, the new Arc Ultra has this flattened area on top for the controls and on the back where the wall mount attaches. (A note about the mount: While the old Arc mount will work, Sonos says, “Given the different dimensions of the products, the [original Arc] mount may be visible from certain angles.” Hence, there is a new Arc Ultra-specific wall mount.) The perforated metal grille also wraps much further around and under the Arc Ultra, allowing “sound to travel to every inch of your room.”
Around the back is a recessed area for making connections, which includes a single HDMI eARC, power, and Ethernet. Also in this connection bay — and new for the Arc Ultra — are a Bluetooth pairing button and a physical microphone On/Off switch. Ultra supports Amazon Alexa and Sonos Voice Control, and the far-field microphone array was adept at hearing my voice.
Arc Ultra was designed with a slimmer profile to minimize screen obstruction when sitting on a tabletop and to look a bit more discreet when wall-mounted beneath a display. At under 3 inches tall, it shouldn’t interfere with most displays sitting on a stand, including not blocking the TV’s IR receiver. At 46.38 inches wide, the Arc Ultra might look a bit crowded beneath a 55-inch set (which typically measures around 48 inches wide), but it has the right sense of dimension to sit below larger screens. Even sitting beneath an 85-inch display at my showroom, the Ultra didn’t look out of place.
Whereas the original Arc had 11 speakers and was described as a 5.1.2 configuration, the Ultra ups the ante with an all-new acoustic architecture that includes 14 drivers powered by 15 Class-D amplifiers in a configuration Sonos describes as 9.1.4. This includes seven silk-dome tweeters, including two dedicated up-firing and two side-firing drivers to create the height and width required for spatial audio, along with six woofers, and the new Sound Motion woofer, which I’ll go into later.
The Sonos Sub Gen 4 receives a cosmetic makeover in that it now ditches the glossy finishes and comes in matte white and black to match the modern Sonos family look. Externally and performance-wise, the Gen 4 sub is identical to the previous sub, using the same dual woofers in a force-canceling array with the same amplification. However, it has received some internal upgrades in the form of increased memory and processing power (“to support future innovations”), and new Wi-Fi radios that deliver a stronger wireless connection to other Sonos speakers. The sub is also more “green,” with an updated enclosure, faceplate, and cable cover to reduce unnecessary waste. It also uses halogen-free printed circuit boards and boasts a nearly 50% reduction in idle power consumption compared to previous generations.
To complete a full Sonos Atmos speaker array, Sonos also sent two Era 300s (review available online). Now that the Eras have been out for a while, there are a variety of mounts and stands designed for them.
Compatibility-wise, the Arc Ultra can pair with any generation of Sonos subwoofers. If you want to use two subwoofers, you’ll need to use a Gen 3 and/or Gen 4 in any combination. For surround speakers, the Ultra works with the Sonos Amp, Era 100, Era 300, Five, and One (Gen 1, Gen 2, and SL), along with some SYMFONISK speakers available at IKEA. However, as the Era 300 is the only speaker that has an up-firing driver element, it should really be the go-to choice.
New Sound Motion Tech
One of the keys to the Ultra’s performance is the introduction of a new technology that Sonos is branding “Sound Motion.” Mayht, a Netherlands-based company, had been developing this revolutionary audio transducer technology since 2016, but Mayht had no intention of manufacturing its own drivers, instead looking to license the tech. Enter Sonos, which acquired Mayht in 2022 for approximately $100 million.
Sound Motion is said to deliver far greater bass output in a significantly smaller, flatter, and lighter footprint. Traditional transducers use one large, heavy motor and single membrane to displace sound, whereas Sound Motion uses four lightweight motors and two force-canceling membranes to deliver greater audio performance. This allows for the development of products that can deliver bigger, fuller sound while retaining a small form factor — up to three times smaller than traditional transducers.
The resulting design is a rectangular “pack” that uses high-performance plastic suspension and aerospace-grade aluminum ribs housing the motors, magnets, voice coils, and cones that sit to the right of center, with accompanying electronics and amplifiers taking up space on the left side. The system employs four pairs of opposing magnets that power four voice coils in opposing corners, allowing the cones to create more magnetic force, which displaces more air and creates more bass. These dual cones move in opposing directions for a force-canceling effect (similar to that employed in the Sub) to eliminate mechanical vibrations.
The Arc Ultra is the first Sonos product to incorporate this technology, and Sonos claims the Ultra delivers twice the bass as the original Arc from a single Sound Motion module.
Setup
The Ultra can connect to your network either wired or wireless (now supporting both 2.4 and 5 GHz, including Wi-Fi 6). I went Wi-Fi, as I figured most installs would.
While the Ultra is a full-fledged Sonos product that can do all the music streaming, AirPlay2, and now even Bluetooth, its primary purpose is improving TV and movie audio, and this requires a connection — preferably eARC — to your display. (Sonos still offers the HDMI-to-optical adapter, but it is no longer included.)
While being limited to eARC was a bit frustrating back in 2020 when the Arc launched, this connection is now ubiquitous on modern displays and seems to work reliably nearly 100% of the time. Plus, it has the benefit of being able to pass full-resolution, lossless Dolby TrueHD Atmos audio. Sonos sticks with just providing a single HDMI connection, making you run everything through your display, which also simplifies the user experience by eliminating another source requiring input switching.
As you add in Sonos devices — in my case the Era 300s and Sub — you are prompted to pair them with the bar to create a full system. Once installed, connected, and updated, the app prompts you to run Trueplay, Sonos’ version of room correction. If you’re an iOS user, you’ll want to select the Advanced tuning option that uses the microphone in your iOS device and takes readings around the room. Android devices are still not supported due to the wide manufacturing variances; however, a Quick Tune mode is also available in the app that uses the microphones in the Ultra to perform a basic calibration. Like the Arc, the Ultra uses an extra step in the Trueplay process where you take an initial measurement at eye level at the primary seating location, followed by a minute where you walk around the room, slowly waving your phone around.
Review: Sonos Ace Wireless Headphones
Usually, one of my big complaints is that companies don’t properly implement (or even include!) room correction with their soundbars. Many take measurements from the microphones built into the bar, which don’t reflect what is happening at the seating position. Others measure the bar and surrounds but not the subwoofers. Then they don’t allow you any way of toggling the correction on/off to see what it is actually doing.
With Trueplay, Sonos does literally everything you would want a soundbar’s room correction to do (provided you have an iPhone). A radial button in the Sonos app lets you toggle the Trueplay correction on/off so you can immediately compare before/after results. With it engaged in my room, bass was noticeably tighter and more cohesive, the front soundstage was a bit more expansive, and the audio from the surround speakers was more focused. Obviously, results will vary in a given room, but it is definitely worth spending the couple of minutes required to perform this calibration, with the ability to instantly compare the results.
Within the app, you can also finetune the volume levels of speakers, such as the height volume of the Ultra, the volume of the surrounds (both separately for movie and music listening), and the subwoofer.
Performance
I installed the system in stages so I could experience the Arc Ultra on its own, then paired with the Era 300s, and finally as an entire system with the new Sub Gen 4. The Ultra sat on a tabletop in front of my 65-inch Sony TV, with the Era 300s on stands to the left and right of my listening couch, and the sub in the front-right corner of my room.
My immediate impression was that the Sound Motion tech is legit and that the bass response in the Ultra is fantastically upgraded over the Arc. With music listening, the Ultra on its own produces all but the deepest bass drops, and in most rooms, the Arc Ultra can probably stand on its own without a sub.
I need to emphasize how high that praise is.
With nearly every soundbar, I’d consider adding a subwoofer a must. But with the Ultra, I’d argue that most people would be totally happy with the standalone performance. In fact, the Ultra produced some of the best standalone audio performance I can recall, bested only by how great I remember the Sennheiser Ambeo Max sounding. (A review I wrote over five years ago, so it’s certainly possible my audio memory is hazy.) However, the Arc Ultra does this in a much sleeker and more elegant housing — and at a significantly lower price — adding all the Sonos music streaming options and offering the ability to upgrade by adding rears and a sub (or two!) for a more compelling solution.
Actually, the Sound Motion driver is so impressive, the only nit I might have is that occasionally some deep male voices would have a bit of bassy chestiness with the extra low-end the bar can produce. If this is an issue, you can temper this by going into the Ultra’s EQ settings and dipping the bass down a couple of clicks.
Speaking of dialog, I must also give the Ultra props for its intelligibility, as I never felt myself straining to understand what was being said. And, unlike the original Arc, the Ultra now comes with four levels (off, low, medium, high) of Speech Enhancement to assist if you are having difficulty. I found that Medium, which Sonos describes as, “An improved version of our traditional Speech Enhancement feature that makes it easier to hear on-screen dialog, addressing mix, environment, and listener issues,” did the best job when I needed it, and that it really amplified just the speech and none of the music or effects that were going on. The Speech Enhancement (and Night Audio mode) are both easily accessible in the Sonos app.
I also remember thinking that the original Arc’s height audio performance was lackluster. Sounds felt like they were more coming above the bar, raising the height of the presentation for sure, but rarely ever delivering a convincing illusion that the sounds were actually coming up overhead or from out wide of the bar. With the new drivers and tuning in the Arc Ultra, this is definitely no longer the case. Watching Pixar’s Brave (the very first film to feature Dolby Atmos, for you trivia buffs), I was impressed with how wide sounds traveled outside the bar, hearing Merida’s arrows whiz in from offscreen, as well as how immersive the atmospherics were, with forest sounds swelling overhead and filling the room.
Now, there is a practical limit to how much surround info a single bar in the front of the room can do, no matter how many drivers it has or where they are pointed. And while the Arc Ultra is a potent performer on its own, adding a pair of Era 300s for surround takes it to the next level, delivering truly immersive, convincing, Dolby Atmos height and 360-degree performance. The “It’s Just an Illusion” scene from Spider-Man Far From Home, where Mysterio is taunting Peter with his projectors, is filled with voices that happen overhead and all around the room. With the Arc Ultra on its own, voices appear high above and outside the bar, but when augmented with the 300s, it becomes a completely different, room-filling animal with voices clearly coming from up overhead in different locations.
This combo also produced some of the most immersive, exciting, and compelling surround sound I’ve ever heard from a soundbar system while watching the Ready Player One “The First Challenge” demo scene. Starting with the airhorn and fireworks blast that streaked up overhead into the center of the room, this truly sounded like speakers were installed in my ceiling. Add in the cacophony of cars racing, crashing, and smashing all around you, planes flying, and Kong jumping overhead, and the system delivers all the intensity and excitement of a traditional standalone surround rig.
The opening scene from Kong: Skull Island is another of my favorites for listening for powerful overhead effects as it starts with a dogfight with planes zipping overhead and blasting away at each other while the credits roll, followed by a plane streaking overhead and then smashing into the beach in front of you. The Ultra system did a fantastic job of portraying the position and travel of planes overhead and around the room, with the scene concluding with the massive bass of Kong’s hand smashes and deep roars.
One curious thing is that the front-firing tweeter on the Era 300s is disabled for music or movies when they are paired as surrounds. Sonos claims internal testing concluded it sounds better with this driver off, but I think giving users the ability to toggle this on/off in the surround settings would be a better option, similar to the Tripole array M&K used to offer. But, to be fair, I never felt like the surround info was lacking, so perhaps it truly does sound best with this tweeter disabled.
Finally, I went all in and added the subwoofer. I was surprised to find that the bass from the Arc Ultra was so impressive, I daresay that adding the subwoofer is optional. Does the system sound better and more cinematic with the Sub in the mix? On content with lots of loud, deep bass, yes. But is adding the subwoofer absolutely necessary and game-changing, as it is with other soundbars? No.
For example, in the “Falling Debris” scene from Underwater, there is a near-constant barrage of heavy equipment smashing around, and with the Arc Ultra playing solo I could feel the weight of the bass punches in the floor with my feet, but then with the sub added, I’d feel it in my body as these tactile thuds traveled through the couch. Another place where the sub plumbs just that extra bit deeper was the opening scene from Unbroken. Here, the explosions of flak around the plane, the reverb of the bomb exploding, and the steady low thud of the .50-caliber cannons couldn’t quite hit those lowest, tactile, thunderous notes on the bar alone.
Don’t get me wrong, the Sub 4 brings out that lowest octave of tactile bass, and if you want the truest theater experience, it definitely sounds more cinematic with the Sub 4 in the mix. Heck, add two of them! But with the bar and surrounds playing, unless the scene was filled with lots of really low-end bass, toggling the sub on/off didn’t produce that dramatic missing-hole-in-the-sound-floor effect you’d get with other soundbars.
It is also a potent performer, delivering plenty of output and sharp dynamics. Gunshots from the SEAL raid on Bin Laden’s compound in Zero Dark Thirty were sharp and powerful, while still producing the sound of nighttime atmospherics on the city street and the bullhorn announcements echoing off the city walls with a ton of reverb. And watching Tenet with the volume set at 70 (out of 100), I was getting SPL peaks above 102 dB at my seating position. This is a massive sound that will fill all but the biggest rooms.
The Sonos app’s “Now Playing” screen displays what type of audio is being decoded, including Dolby Atmos, letting people know it’s doing its thing. Interestingly, DTS Digital Surround is listed as a compatible audio format, with a “**” that denotes, “This is not an indication of a licensed decoder.” (I reached out to Sonos for a comment on what that meant, but didn’t get an answer.) However, be assured that the Arc Ultra does play DTS audio soundtracks. If the format is plain-vanilla DTS 5.1, then the Sonos app displays “DTS Surround 5.1.” And the opening “Surprise Attack” scene from Master and Commander sounded as great as it always does.
If you are sending any other flavor of DTS to the Ultra, say DTS-HD or even immersive DTS:X, the app displays “Multichannel PCM 5.1” but still plays the audio with no issues. The good news is that if you happen to have any content that is only encoded in DTS surround (not totally uncommon in my Kaleidescape library), or if Disney ever gets around to using the DTS:X flavor of IMAX Enhanced audio with some of its content, you’ll be able to enjoy it on the Arc Ultra.
Without question, the Arc Ultra is a huge improvement on all fronts when compared to the original Arc. If you’re looking for a one-and-done soundbar, this is a tough proposition to beat. If you are looking for a truly immersive surround experience, add a pair of Era 300s and I daresay you’ll never regret it.
800-680-2345; SONOS.COM
Kudos: Improves on original Arc in every way; impressively deep bass; terrific dialog intelligibility; fantastic immersive audio when paired with Era 300s
Concerns: Full system on the pricey side
Product Specs:
- 1.4-channel Dolby Atmos-capable streaming soundbar
- 14 drivers, including five angled silk-dome tweeters, two dedicated up-firing silk-dome tweeters, six woofers for midrange, a four-motor Sound Motion woofer with 15 individual Class-D digital amplifiers
- HDMI ARC/eARC input (optional adapter for Toslink optical digital audio)
- Far-field microphone for Amazon Alexa or Sonos Voice integration with physical On/Off switch
- Wi-Fi (2.4/5 GHz, Wi-Fi 6) and Ethernet connection to a network
- Supports numerous streaming services; Apple AirPlay2, Bluetooth
- Capacitive touch slide control for volume up/down, previous/next track, play/pause, microphone on/off
Dimensions and Weight: 2.95 x 46.38 x 4.35 inches (HxWxD); 13.01 pounds
